The present invention relates to carton forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an apparatus which is adapted to feed flattened carton blanks continuously to a work station whereat the blank is conditioned for the loading of articles therein.
Conventional carton forming apparatus which are arranged for handling carton blanks preparatory to the loading of articles therein include transporting devices which are adapted to receive a plurality of carton blanks and to present each of the blanks in succession to the initial work station of the apparatus.
These apparatus are arranged to receive a stack of flattened carton blanks which are generally oriented in a vertical plane or at some slight angle relative thereto. The blanks are then pushed along a path to a position whereat each of the flattened blanks are reoriented to a horizontal plane and then fed directly to the initial work station. As a stack of flattened carton blanks are depleted, the apparatus is shut down while a workman reloads the loading terminal for the transporting device with another stack of blanks to be fed thereby as in the previous cycle, and so on.
There are many disadvantages inherent in these arrangements of the prior art. The most serious disadvantage is in the stopping of production of the apparatus for each reloading sequence necessary to effect carton preparation before the loading of articles therein. The down time experienced with machine shutdown for the reloading sequence is determined by the number of carton blanks that can be reloaded at any one time, that is, by the number of such blanks that may be carried by the workman to a reloading position or the size of the reloading position which becomes a part of the overall machine for the formation of finished cartons. In either event, the time loss and increased size of the apparatus for the reloading process is costly to the overall production capability of the carton forming machine.
Another serious disadvantage in the conventional apparatus results from the vertical or near vertical orientation of the flattened carton blanks as they are being fed to the initial work station. Holding flattened carton blanks in the vertical orientation may result in the collapsing or the premature opening of the flattened nature of the blanks, or damage thereto as they move along upon their edges during transporting of the same. In order to overcome some of these prospects, additional structure is generally added or incorporated in the overall machine to hold the blanks upright as they are moved along to the initial work station. Correspondingly, additional structure must be added in order to remove or render inoperative the devices utilized to hold the blanks upon their edges.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the present invention to load flattened carton blanks to a carton forming apparatus continuously without stopping or interrupting the production cycles of the carton erecting apparatus.
Another object of the invention is to transport carton blanks to a work station whereat carton erection may be activated utilizing a minimum of machine parts and utilizing inexpensive devices in order to accomplish this operation.
In order to accomplish the foregoing objects, the present invention has been devised for feeding stacks of flattened carton blanks while in a horizontal orientation by a conveyor belt into a lift position. The conveyor system is arranged so that a workman is adapted to continuously load succeeding stacks upon the conveyor belt during operation of the conveyor to the lift position. A lifting member positioned adjacent the lift position is adapted to be driven downwardly prior to the movement of a stack to the lift position whereby the lift members will be in position immediately under the bottommost blank in that position. A power device is activated to lift the lifting members with the blanks thereon upwardly to a feed position and to be held thereat by a holding device while the lifting members are once again driven downwardly to be below the next succeeding stack of blanks being moved to the lift position after the preceding stack has been lifted.
While in the feed position, a pair of horizontally driven separating members engages the rear edge of each of the carton blanks in the stack in succession, separates the blank from the stack, and drives the same to an initial work station. While in the work station, vacuum devices are adapted to be moved into position to engage the upper and lower panels of a carton thereat, and to open the carton to condition the same for movement of the side panels of the blank by power activating devices arranged to be activated immediately after the blank has been opened up. With the carton fully opened, a conveyor is positioned to move the opened carton out of the initial work station and into a gluing station whereat gluing devices are activated to apply glue to appropriate positions upon side panels of the carton immediately prior to the activation of a driving action of a stamping plunger which is arranged to be driven into the opened carton to provide quick and appropriate pressure to the previously glued panels to secure the same under action of applied pressure.
These and other objects will become apparent after reading the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the carton erecting machine devised in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the machine;
FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the conveying system for stacks of carton blanks utilized in the machine;
FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the lifting mechanism in the machine for lifting a stack of carton blanks and to present the same to a carton blank feeding station;
FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are elevational views of the lifting mechanism shown in various stages of operation;
FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view of the carton blank feeding station taken along the line 8--8 in FIG. 2;
FIG. 9 is an isometric view of a typical erected carton showing the structural panels therefor;
FIG. 10 is a partial sectional view taken along the line 10--10 FIG. 2;
FIG. 11 is an isometric view, partly in section, of the carton erecting station;
FIG. 12 is an isometric view of the erecting mechanism in another position of operation;
FIG. 13 is a partial sectional view of a folding mechanism for folding flaps of a carton blank taken along the line 13--13 in FIG. 2;
FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the transport mechanism taken along the line 14--14 in FIG. 2 for moving a partially erected carton from the erecting station to a gluing station;
FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the gluing mechanism taken along the line 15--15 in FIG. 2 and showing adhesive material being applied to flaps of the carton blank;
FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of a plunger mechanism taken along the line 16--16 in FIG. 2 and showing the application of a physical force against the bottom flaps of the carton blank to adhesively secure the same; and
FIG. 17 is a schematic illustration of a control system which may be utilized in the present invention.